


Possibly, Not Entirely Bad

by xpapergridx



Category: Hermitcraft, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Bro hugs, But he's a great bro, EX doesn't like storms, EX needs a hug, PURELY PLATONIC, Ren is kind of dense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 15:17:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20950538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xpapergridx/pseuds/xpapergridx
Summary: Evil Xisuma seeks desperate refuge from a storm inside the pickle shop. Needless to say, he was not expecting someone else to join him.





	Possibly, Not Entirely Bad

Clouds of charcoal colour swirled and towered in the sky, buckets of rain pounding and striking the ground. The shopping district was completely deserted, everyone having taken shelter in their cozy bases while the storm ravaged the island. Evil Xisuma, however, wasn’t able to find a place to hide for the night.

He sprinted through the shopping district, slipping and sliding on patches of mud, pushing himself up the ground every time he fell as fast as possible. He was covered head to toe in mud at this point, and it was getting harder and harder to see through his visor.

Through his limited vision he saw a blurry, yet warm light. Was it a cave? He couldn’t see what it was, but he ran towards it as if his life depended on it. He stumbled desperately down the sloping path, and suddenly, felt an absence of the ground beneath him. He fell from the edge, splatting face down onto the floor of the pickle shop.

Stupid rain, stupid thunder, stupid, _stupid_ pickle shop.

EX didn’t want to move. He was so tired and to his own dismay, scared. He brought up his knees to his chest, hugging them closely. He scrunched up his face, trying to stop the dam that was about to flow from his eyes—But, as much as he wished against it, he began to cry. Choked, pathetic sobs, echoing throughout the inside of the shop.

A crash of thunder burst through the sky and EX screamed like a child, scooting back as far as possible against the furthest wall. “Go away!” he yelled. 

“..Hello?!”

EX screeched at the top of his lungs again, squishing himself against the far wall. “DON’T COME IN HERE! I’LL HURT YOU, I SWEAR!! I’LL DO IT! I-I HAVE, uh, I have—!”

A head of soaked, brown hair peeked over the ledge. “Yo, are you alright down there?” he asked.

“Y-yes!”

_ CRASH! _

“Maybe!”

The man chuckled a little bit, before gliding down to the floor with his elytra. “EX, it’s been a while!”

“I don’t remember you!” EX growled.

He paused, an expression of shock and betrayal on his face. “..Really? Rendog? Ren diggity dog? Ren_cat_? No bells?”

EX actually knew him quite well. Annoying guy. Funny, happy, it was entirely repulsive.

“No.” he snapped, “I don’t know you.”

_ CRASH! _

“Imayormaynotvaguelyrememberyou.”

Ren laughed good-naturedly, sitting down criss cross halfway across the room from him. His red shirt and jeans clung to his skin, clothes dark and damp and heavy. His usually gelled hair just flopped over his face and a pair of completely useless sunglasses hung off the neck of his t-shirt. He looked a mess in EX’s opinion, but he was in no position to judge.

“So," Ren started, dumping a pool of water from his shoe out onto the floor. "What brings you here?” 

“..Shelter.” EX grumbled.

“Oh no way, dude, me too!”

EX stared in utter disbelief at this moron. Why else would he be here, to actually buy pickles? The man clearly wasn’t born with a—

Thunder rumbled through the pickle shop yet again, and EX jumped in fear, burying his head in his knees. “Why won’t it go away?!” he cried.

Ren stared a little dumbfounded. “Why won’t what go away?”

“The storm, idiot!”

Ren took a second to process what EX said before it clicked in his mind. His mouth formed a little ‘o’ upon realization.

“You’re afraid of storms, huh?”

“No! W-why would you think that?”

Ren ignored the jab and crawled over. And—to much of EX’s dismay—sat right next to him. A little uncomfortable with the development, EX slid down the wall to separate them, and Ren slid up next to him like it was nothing. There was no getting rid of him.

“How do you like Hermitcraft?” Ren asked.

“I _hate_ it.”

“Aw dude, you can’t seriously hate it that much. Have you even been to Hermitland yet? It’s pretty fun, man.”

“That’s what I hate about you hermits!” EX yelled. “You’re all so self-absorbed! _Hermit_land? It’s entirely exclusive for you pansies. You guys didn’t even invite me to season five! You forgot about me!”

_CRASH! _

“...” 

"EX?”

“W-what?”

EX’s arms were tightly secured around Ren’s shoulders in a death grip. He was quivering, and you could hear his teeth chatter from beneath his helmet. EX pushed him away quickly, “That was an accident!”

Ren tilted his head with a smile. Whether in mockery or empathy, EX couldn't decide. “Do.. Do you want a bro hug?”

“NO!”

_CRASH! _

Ren was laughing at him. EX was back to hugging him again.

How dare that loser have the audacity to do such a thing. EX was bad! The ultimate antagonist! He threatened to burn down all of the server more times than he could count, and he dared to laugh at him? As much as he hated what he was doing, he was still hugging onto him. Which was stupid. He didn’t _seriously_ want to be hugged. Villains don’t deserve hugs and he was not giving a hermit the satisfaction of one. But it was too late. Ren wrapped his arms around his back, pulling him in for a cozy bro hug. Surprisingly, Ren decided to shut up as well, which was... oddly nice. Not to mention, no one had have offered a hug to him before. _Ever_.

EX softened into the embrace. It was somewhat pleasant to have a “bro hug.” In fact, it was one of the few things he’d actually call decent. Even stranger, he couldn’t hear the chaos of the storm anymore, nor did he even care to listen for it.

He wasn’t quite sure how long he actually partook in the bro hug, but rays of sunlight soon began to creep in through the entrance at the top. He separated himself from the contact, turning away from Ren.

“I guess.. not all hermits are.. well, not completely terrible. Thanks for the, um, the bro hug.” he mumbled.

Ren smiled, “No problem dude!”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. I’ll spare you when I summon the apocalypse on your server.”

“Haha, alright then. Oh! And, I know you aren’t actually supposed to be here, but if you wanna chill we can do that sometime. Do friend things and all that. Maybe even hang out with the other hermits, y’know?”

EX pondered for a second. “That... sounds alright. Just no other hermits!”

“If you say so, dude!”

Ren shook the droplets of water off of his silvery elytra and stood up off the ground. With a friendly wave, he took off in a flurry of fireworks, swooping out of the pickle shop in a flash.

EX couldn’t help the smile that lingered on his face.

Maybe not everyone was so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what it is with me and hugs. They're just so nice to right about, for some reason. 
> 
> One of my personal headcanons for EX is that he has astraphobia (has a fear of storms). Got inspired by the Evil X episode in Season 6 where near the end he states that he doesn't like the thundering noises, and I decided to exaggerate it a little.
> 
> This particular piece of writing has actually been in my notes for a pretty long time, and I only found it some days ago. It's mostly a lot of dialogue, I realise, but I hope I was able to make their interaction somewhat interesting. I edited it just a little bit, so it should be good to post. 
> 
> Thank you for the support as always! <3


End file.
